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I’m working with two colleagues on a new project dealing with youth unemployment. Our perspective is that work opportunities and the skills needed to fill jobs have radically changed.

In the new work landscape, traditional jobs that used to be lifelong and provide wages that could support home and families are no longer present.

Our project is called Youth Profit. In this early stage of development, I envision Youth Profit’s as a probe that will explore the new work landscape and stimulate dialogue about youth unemployment in the 21st Century workplace.

Rising youth unemployment is a complex and worldwide concern. There are successful models and projects that we can learn from. Youth Profit will encourage discussion, interview thought leaders from around the globe and stimulate new ideas for preparing youth for 21st Century workplace.

Youth Profit is creating and supporting an online space for stakeholders to connect, share design tools and exchange ideas for new youth employment training initiatives. To facilitate solutions to long term systemic barriers, Youth Profit’s advocates for closer collaboration between the education, government, non profit and the private sectors.

To give readers a background on why we are developing this project and how work is changing, I’ve included a post from the American Press Association and Harold Jarche website – shining a light on workplace transformation. Harold is a Canadian and is viewed internationally as a leading writer and “sense maker” on the changes happening to the workplace.

These two posts underscore the importance of developing solutions to complex social concerns through collaboration between the Education, Private, Non-Profit and Government sectors.

NEW YORK (AP) — Five years after the start of the Great Recession, the toll is terrifyingly clear: Millions of middle-class jobs have been lost in developed countries the world over.

And the situation is even worse than it appears.

Most of the jobs will never return, and millions more are likely to vanish as well, say experts who study the labor market. What’s more, these jobs aren’t just being lost to China and other developing countries, and they aren’t just factory work. Increasingly, jobs are disappearing in the service sector, home to two-thirds of all workers.

I’m a great believer in the axiom that says “if your Grammy doesn’t understand your explanation of what you do for a living, go back to the drawing board”. To that end, I’ve being working on simplifying how I communicate my business purpose.

I began by reflecting on the services I’ve being offering since starting my business about four years ago. The services I provide to organizations are fairly diverse but two broad categories took shape. They are services that promote collaboration using social media tools in the workplace and using multimedia (mostly video) for communicating to stakeholders.

To get at typical challenges faced by organizations that I work with, I created a list of three “pain points”. These pain points are what keep senior managers worried about the success of their business.

I encourage you to visit Jane’s Social Learning Centre site for an indepth read of what she calls her Workplace Development Services Framework.

After delving into Jane’s posts and others from the Internet Time Alliance, I started writing my new 30 second elevator pitch. This is a concise speech you can give anyone that succinctly expresses what you do and invites further discussion about your work.

My name is Brent MacKinnon, owner of Social Media Tools for Work & Learning.

Organizations hire me to help them strengthen their services by improving how staff connect, share, learn and collaborate using social media tools in the workplace.

Typically, I help businesses & organizations, face new challenges such as:

Keeping pace with emerging social media tools that extends the organizations ability to communicate with consumers and build trust with stakeholders.

Developing and implementing new strategies and procedures that improve performance outcomes through collaboration and innovation in the workplace;

Attracting and retaining competent and self-motivated staff who depend on a supportive learning workplace that fosters innovative practices for business and professional success.

I’ve served as Executive Director for many varied non-profit organizations for many years and continue to provide leadership on local Boards of Directors.

For complex projects, I draw upon a pool of specialists from diverse sectors.

Organizations choose me because I have both the hands on management and social media skills for developing collaborative practices within teams, projects and across departments.

To learn more about what I can offer your business or non-profit organization, give me a call and I’ll be happy to chat with you further.

I owe a big thank you to Tim Rooney from Rooney, Earl and Partners who taught me all I know about pain points and 30 second elevator pitches. Any business or non profit organization looking to increase their sales and communication skills of their staff will do well to connect with Tim.

If you have suggestions on my elevator pitch, I’d love to hear from you.